Demand spreads for WA’s rare smoky honey

WA’s first raw smoked honey has been on the market for just a little over six months, but it’s already gaining traction among Perth foodies.

Developed by Perth architect Tristan Chambers, the Fire.works & Smoke-branded honey has been available through some farmers markets and stocked in gourmet retail outlets since February.

Mr Chambers estimates he has sold about half a tonne in 250g jars since he released his artisan product on to the market.

The smoked honey is made from raw WA honey — among the purest and best in the world — cold smoked to provide its unique flavour.

Smoked honey is often used as a condiment when cooking or barbecuing meat, but is also proving popular on cheese boards and savoury platters.

Mr Chambers said his interest emerged as part of his involvement in barbecue competitions with a handful of friends.

He started dabbling with honey varieties, then realised he was on to a product that was proving popular outside that sphere. It took him more than a year of trial and error to perfect the recipe, which included finding the best variety of WA honey to use.

“The darker honey works best, which is sourced from bees on eucalypts such as red gums and blackbutts,” he said.

The raw honey is bought from a WA beekeeper, then smoked in 15kg to 30kg batches in a cold smoker, using HACCP-grade redgum woodchips.

“It’s important the honey retains its raw qualities, so it’s not heated above 40C,” he said.

Mr Chambers, who has no intention of giving up his day job, mans his own stall at farmers markets on most weekends and holds tastings at some stockists.

Mr Chambers said about 80 per cent of people who tasted smoked honey would go on to buy it. He expects sales will increase as word gets out, and anticipates within two years he could be producing several tonnes each year.

And he sees further potential in collaborating with other food industries, such as ice-cream producers, bakers and caterers to offer unique smoked honey flavoured products.

With WA honey being considered among the best in the world and the early success of the product locally, Mr Chambers has not ruled out that Fire.works & Smoke could eventually reach export markets, but he said for the foreseeable future it would remain a cottage business.

The honey comes in natural and a whisky old fashioned flavour and sells for about $14 a jar.